Many people have pre-existing medical conditions (e.g. heart conditions, severe Diabetes, etc.) that could predictably cause a wireless device (e.g. cellular phone) user to initiate an emergency telephone call (e.g. an emergency 911 call) at some unexpected point in time. Unfortunately, with such medical conditions, it is foreseeable that the user may become incapacitated either during or shortly after initiating the E911 call. If such an event were to occur, the cellular phone user would be unable to apprise the E911 operator of the exact nature of the emergency and of where the user is located.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved method and apparatus for storing an audio and/or data message for playback during a user-initiated emergency telephone call from a wireless device that meets the above-stated needs and overcomes the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous results.
For instance, one advantage of the present invention is the provision of a method and apparatus that permits a user to record or upload a message into a wireless device, which message will be played back to an E911 operator in the event that the wireless device user is able to initiate an E911 call but is subsequently incapacitated.
Another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that provides the ability to store an audio or data message (or messages) and to replay the stored message once an E911 telephone call has been established.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that permits a user to store a voice or data message (or messages) that would be sent when an emergency call (E911) is made.
Still another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that stores voice signals (using voice annotation) or sounds made by the wireless device phone user after an emergency call is initiated.
A further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that plays back a stored message across the uplink channel in response to a particular command (DTMF signal) sent across the downlink channel.
A still further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that plays back a stored message across the uplink channel if a call is established and voice is not detected by the originating device within a predetermined time.
A still further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that terminates playback of a stored message if the originating device detects voice activity on the uplink channel.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a wireless device that reclaims and allocates used memory to voice annotation if an E911 event occurs.
Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.